Car Scam Takes Buyers For A Ride

April 10, 1985|By Ray Gibson.

Law enforcement officials, calling for state laws to combat the growing sales of illegal luxury cars imported from Europe, said they are investigating several Chicago area scams in which buyers of such cars may have been defrauded.

Officials said the U.S. dollar`s strength abroad is causing a flood of cars into the Chicago area as shady entrepreneurs and some car dealers snap up luxury cars bought at bargain prices in Europe. The autos are imported or smuggled into the U.S.

But many of the cars, designed for European markets, lack U.S.-required safety equipment and pollution-control devices that can cost as much as $15,000 to install.

At a recent seminar, members of the Cook County state`s attorney`s office urged Chicago and suburban police departments and other agencies to pool information about the scams.

They also promised to seek a state law forbidding the registration of such cars in Illinois without the federally required equipment.

Colin Simpson, an assistant state`s attorney in the Maywood office, said that in the last six months his office has begun investigations of two swindles relating to the importation racket.

Illegal operators ``can bring in a car they purchased for $20,000 and sell it for $50,000,`` Simpson said. ``There`s money to be made.``

A North Shore attorney bought a high-performance Porsche last summer for $44,000 at a west suburban car dealer, only to discover months later that he would have to pay $15,000 to convert the car to U.S. standards, Simpson said. The attorney also was told he would face a $1,000 fee to have the car`s emissions tested. The dealer has since gone out of business. The car may have been stolen in Europe, Simpson said.

A Woodstock man lost $21,000 when he responded to an advertisement for a 1979 Mercedes-Benz. Authorities have since learned that the ad was placed by a con artist who offers to buy the car in Europe and bring it to Chicago. The thief gives the buyer a list of potential references apparently in on the scheme.

Simpson and others said several Chicago area auto dealers selling the illegal cars do not warn customers that warranties will not be honored by other car dealers. They also do not mention the costs of bringing the vehicles into compliance.

Simpson said back-yard mechanics and small garages that lack expertise may be trying to convert many of the autos to comply with U.S. standards.

Cherise Mayberry of the Customs Office in Chicago said that the number of illegally imported cars is on the rise and that the agency is investigating several cases ``involving organized rings.``

``More people are importing the cars due to the fact they think they are getting a bargain,`` Mayberry said.

Customs officials estimated that about 60,000 cars that do not meet federal safety standards will be imported in 1985, up from 20,000 in 1983. That does not include the number of cars being smuggled from Mexico and Canada.